Chapter 20 - The Floor was Covered with Chicken Feathers (1/2)

Chapter 20: The Floor was Covered with Chicken Feathers

The Spirit Tailed Chicken, which had harder feathers and a larger body compared to an ordinary chicken, was born ferocious. An adult Spirit Tailed Chicken was comparable to a cultivator at the second-level of Qi Condensation.

This kind of chicken was edible, their eggs were nutritious, their blood as well as their bones were excellent medicinal materials, and their tails could be used as rare fuel to produce three-coloured flame. Therefore, Spirit Tailed Chickens were mass reared in all three peaks of the Spirit River Sect’s South Bank.

However, these chickens did not belong to the sect. They were the personal properties of Li Qing Hou and the ancestors of the other two mountains, so only a few disciples were responsible for taking care of these chickens. On the Scented Cloud Mountain, three territories were enclosed for rearing Spirit Tailed Chickens.

Bai Xiaochun hunkered in the shrubbery while looking at those Spirit Tailed Chickens. He had never seen a live Spirit Tailed Chicken before, but he had tasted one in the Burning Stoves Kitchen and he knew that this kind of chicken was extremely delicious. He had also heard from Zhang Fatso One that this kind of chicken liked to eat spirit bugs.

Eventually, Bai Xiaochun’s body flashed away. Instead of acting rashly, he chose to go downhill to buy a bag of spirit bugs with his dwindling supply of spirit stones, before returning to his yard.

The moment he returned, he felt hungry again. Forcibly repressing his hunger pangs, he searched around, seemingly looking for some materials.

Soon after, when his gaze landed on the Spirit Winter Bamboos, his eyes suddenly lit up. These bamboos had grown to over a zhang tall and were as thick as a fist. Glowing with spirit light, they looked quite extraordinary.

(ED note: One zhang is approximately 3.58 meters, or 3.645 yards)

Bai Xiaochun hurriedly walked up to those bamboos and circled around them a few times before he laughed out loud. Using the herbal knowledge he had acquired, he cut off two sections from the head of a bamboo stalk, which was also the toughest part of the bamboo.

As for how to steal the Spirit Tailed Chickens, Bai Xiaochun had his own special way. The most important thing about stealing a chicken was ‘weaseling out.’ Weaseling out, or escaping the notice of others, was indeed an art.

With the two sections of bamboo, Bai Xiaochun quickly made a bamboo-cicada. This was something he had learned from his father when he was little. According to legends, this kind of bamboo-cicada was a useful tool in catching any fowl, be it chicken or phoenix. He then weaved a rope with the bamboo fibers. After tightening the rope to test its tautness, he tied the bamboo-cicada to it, then darted out under the cover of night.

“I want to eat chicken!” Bai Xiaochun’s belly was rumbling, but his eyes were shining with a bright green light. His starvation pushed him to run faster, straight towards the nearest Spirit Tailed Chicken coop.

He slowed down when he neared the chicken coop, sneakily approached the fence, and threw the bamboo-cicada with spirit bugs hanging onto it into the chicken coop. Afterwards, he held the rope that had been tied together with the bamboo-cicada and silently waited, while enduring his hunger.

A few cabins were built within the yard. Beyond them, were the training grounds and living areas of Outer Sect Disciples. Inside the broad hennery yard, were hundreds of Spirit Tailed Chickens. Most of them were lying on the ground, while others were walking around.

Occasionally, they pompously raised their heads high up in the air. After a short while, a Spirit Tailed Chicken seemed to notice something. It turned around and took a glance at the surrounding area, before approaching the bamboo-cicada. The chicken instantly noticed the spirit bug that had been hung on the bamboo-cicada. As it came closer, it then unconcernedly opened its beak and pecked.

But at the exact same moment the chicken’s beak pecked the spirit bug, it triggered the mechanism. Instantly, the bamboo rod bent by the chicken’s pull violently sprang apart and ingeniously trapped the beak of this Spirit Tailed Chicken. It forcibly propped the chicken’s beak open.

The Spirit Tailed Chicken tried to make a sound but failed because of the bamboo stuck in its beak. It then tried crushing the bamboo, however, it failed again due to the sturdiness. At the same time, a strong pull came from the shrubbery.

No matter how hard the chicken struggled, it could only be dragged to the fence in a quick and silent manner. After that, the rope suddenly shook and lifted the chicken into the air. Bai Xiaochun grabbed the chicken in his hands and gathered the power of his fourth-level Qi Condensation into his palms. Together with his tough skin and great strength, he easily twisted the chicken’s neck, then threw it into the storage pouch. This series of moves was extremely skilled, as if it had been an old trick that he had completely mastered.

The entire process had spanned less than thirty breaths, if he hadn’t waited for so long, it would have been even quicker.

Bai Xiaochun was very excited. He dashed back to his own yard, and soon, a delicious scent came out of his cabin. By the time dawn arrived, the entire chicken had ended up in Bai Xiaochun’s stomach.

The only things left were feathers and bones covering the floor…

Having finished the Spirit Tailed Chicken, a large portion of Bai Xiao’s great hunger had vanished. He clearly felt that his body had been replenished a bit, and it was filled with warmth, making him feel quite comfortable.

Even the amount of Qi his body contained had improved slightly. The most obvious improvement was that after he finished that chicken, Bai Xiaochun could operate the Unending Longevity Technique for seven to eight cycles of breathing without pause.